In just over 24 minutes of playing time tonight, former D-League standout Greg Stiemsma made a great first impression in his official NBA debut. So much so that many Celtics fans have expressed the sentiment that they'd prefer to see him start over current center Jermaine O'Neal.

Stiemsma blocked 6 shots, grabbed 4 rebounds, and most of all provided some much needed hustle and spark to a Celtics team that went stagnant in its loss to New Orleans on Wednesday night. With Chris Wilcox injured and Jermaine O'Neal giving us limited production the past few games, has Stiemsma shown us enough for Doc Rivers to give him a major role?

My guess is that Greg hasn't demonstrated enough yet to warrant taking JO's spot, but give him some more games and he might win Doc over. Plus we have to remember that Nenad Krstic had a great first game for Boston back in February after the Perkins trade, and then had many underwhelming performances after that, indicating that we can't always base judgement upon a player's first game for a new team. So the Steam Roller probably needs quite a few more games under his belt before we can crown him our new center.

Doc already told the press that rookie E'Twaun Moore would be taking over Avery Bradley's bench role, and Moore has played less minutes than Stiemsma. So Doc is obviously willing to switch roles if he likes what he sees in limited minutes. If Greg can continue to demonstrate good productivity, I am sure that Rivers could be convinced to give him the nod over Wilcox and maybe even JO, especially in the condensed schedule where we have many back-to-back games and JO will need to play reduced minutes. I could definitely see Greg as our #2 center, and perhaps start in a double header situation or if JO gets injured (which is likely given last year's track record).

What are your thoughts on the new "Great White Hope?" Vote in the poll below.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/5796618/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;If you were Doc Rivers, how would you use Greg Stiemsma?&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Beantown, it was meant to be used in a satirical manner, not literally, sorry if that wasn't conveyed. I can see Stiemsma taking over Scalabrine's token white guy role and getting a huge cult following. I just used the term "great white hope" over "token white guy" as a joke.

all the celtics fans that want stiemsma to start over JO are retarded. JO will snap out of this "funk" he is in, so to speak. Everyone automatically throws away his performance against NY last year in the playoffs because of three games he couldn't do much in because he was forced to the bench by the refs' whistle boners. i chose to start Greg on double headers, and JO during big games, because JO could use rest just as mcuh as Ray, PP, and KG could, but I certainly do not think Stiemsma should be our full time starter.

Your comments always are sh*t, stop sayin we need those guys, trade here, trade there.The team has athleticism and the skills to win, they only have played 3 games, and a preseason that almost never exist.F*ck you n your comments.